Category: pinball

After our visit to the Church, Robin wanted to get a pinball, so I was clear to get one. Prices of pins range anywhere from several hundred, to several thousand and beyond.

I did happen to see an for sale ad online for a Lethal Weapon 3 pin for a modest $1400. I actually had played this pin quite a bit when I was a teenager, so it had the nostalgia factor going for it and at the price seemed like a good entry level pin. It had been for sale for a couple of months. When I contacted the seller, he had sold it just the day before. My pinball dreams were crushed already.

At the same time, I had been spending a lot of time looking at Tron Legacy pinball, one of the most recent releases from Stern. The theme, music, lights, and whole package were a winner for me. Problem was the price. It was also out of production and becoming hard to find, none were available in Canada.

I had begun hanging out on Pinside.com, and saw a NIB (New In Box) Tron for sale. I wandered downstairs telling Robin “man, I really want the Tron but it’s so expensive”, to which she responded “Oh, just get it, it’s the one you want”. Just like that the decision was made.

Buying pins like this is a luxury, but people also spend money on other things, like golf, vacations, snowmobiles, seadoos, luxury cars, the list goes on…. so this was my luxury item. The side benefit is that they are so collectible, they don’t lose their value and most have increased in value. I’m not saying it is an investment, but I was able to rationalize the decision knowing I could get most of my money back if it came to that. And at the end of the day if I had to make a mortgage payment or something, the pinball can go.

I made the deal with the seller in the US, and arranged for shipment to Canada. Now all I had to do was wait.